Forgotten Photo Studio

Chapter 73 Sharing weal and woe
Level 2 access was enough for him to access a large amount of non-core but crucial information about the Soul-Suppressing Iron, his father, and even the internal structure of the center.

"two……"

Xu Yan's gaze was colder than the will-o'-the-wisps of hell.

The screams of the tackled team members and the creaking sound of bones being crushed became the most terrifying background noise.

"Level 2 clearance? Dream on!" the drill arm roared, but the knuckles of his fingers gripping the gun had turned white from blood loss due to excessive force.

The next second, he caught a glimpse of his teammate's throat being ripped open by a bone finger, and warm drops of blood splattered onto his cold tactical mask like red rain.

Time seemed to freeze. The rage on his face cracked like a fragile plaster mask, revealing the most primal fear beneath.

His face first flushed red, then turned deathly pale.

In the end, all the struggles turned into a bloody roar squeezed from the deepest part of his lungs:
"Damn it...Here you go!! I'll give it to you!!"

What he roared out was not just a string of code, but a sacrifice of his pride as a warrior and his future, thrown into the abyss before him.

"The key is 'ZB7749-Delta'! Act now! Hurry—!"

What he roared out was not just a string of code, but also his dignity and future as a Silver Contractor. But at this moment, all he wanted was to survive.

"Deal." Xu Yan's eyes remained expressionless, as if he had simply completed an ordinary transaction.

He moved.

His figure left a blurry afterimage in the dark room where red and black intertwined, not rushing towards the monster, but skimming towards the fallen Yang Sha Spear in the corner.

With a precise flick of his toe, the gun rolled and crashed into the skeletal demon, interrupting its fatal bite.

At the same time, the Soul-Sealing Camera was already raised.

Mental energy surged in like a flood, even causing the camera body to tremble slightly, as if it were about to collapse under the strain.

"Crack!"

The moment the shutter clicked, Xu Yan felt a strange “hollow” sensation in his right shoulder blade.

It wasn't pain, but rather as if someone had used a cold spoon to dig away all the memories of that old scar—the angle of the blade, the burning pain of the torn muscle, even the tingling sensation during healing—and filled it with nothingness.

He instinctively tried to sidestep an attack that didn't exist, but his right shoulder, like a rusty gear, made a sickening "clunk" sound that only he could hear, slowing his movements by half a beat.

A sense of trust rooted in bodily instinct is crumbling.

A cold sweat trickled down his back. He realized that the price he was paying was beginning to erode his chances of survival.

But the camera's effect was immediate.

The skeletal demon's movements suddenly froze, as if it were enveloped in invisible resin.

It struggled angrily, the will-o'-the-wisps in its eye sockets flickering wildly.

"Get out! Now!" Xu Yan shouted at the drill arm and the team member who was still able to move. "Before my next shutter click! Take this piece of trash with you!" He was referring to the team member who had been attacked.

As if granted a pardon, the drill arm and another team member desperately dragged their semi-conscious companion out of the darkroom, leaving behind the Yang Sha spear.

Just as they stepped out of the darkroom, Xu Yan raised his camera again, this time aiming it at the wall deep inside the darkroom that served as the "shadow door," and at the most crucial crack on it.

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

He pressed the shutter button repeatedly, and with each click, the memories in his mind shattered and vanished.

This time, what he lost was the instinctive memory of several life-saving techniques he had mastered through years of combat; these experiences, gained with blood and sweat, were vanishing into nothingness.

He used his own "armor" of survival to fill the holes that these idiots had blown up!
As memories fade, the core crack on the photographic paper ejected by the camera is gradually "exposed," compressed, and sealed.

Without the energy support of the core fissure, the other smaller fissures also began to flicker and shrink erratically.

The skeletal demon and the skinning dog let out unwilling roars, their bodies gradually becoming ethereal as they were sucked back into the crack.

When the last crack disappeared, the darkroom returned to deathly silence, leaving only a mess on the floor.

The cracks finally closed, and the darkroom returned to peace.

Xu Yan leaned against the wall, each breath causing excruciating pain in her lungs.

He looked at the limp drill arm outside the door, his voice hoarse, yet each word like an ice bead hitting the ground:

"I've noted down the key."

"If you go back on your word... the next time, it will be your souls that are frozen in time." The door was pushed open, a cold wind rushed in, and the three figures disappeared into the night.

The darkness receded slowly like the receding tide, the cracks closed, but the ensuing silence was more suffocating than the previous clamor.

The air was thick with the strange smell of sulfur mixed with something resembling burnt electrical appliances and rotting flesh, pressing heavily on my chest, each breath feeling like swallowing shards of glass.

He almost staggered as he turned and fled the suffocating pressure at the door of the darkroom.

Inside, Chen Zhiwei lay quietly on the bed, seemingly enveloped by the shadow of the building itself.

Her breathing was so faint it was almost imperceptible, yet strangely blended with the surrounding stillness, as if she were not lying there, but rather a part of herself that had grown from there.

Xu Yan stopped beside her bed.

The sound of his footsteps was abrupt in the silence, and he instinctively held his breath, afraid that the bloody scent he brought would disturb her.

He reached out, but stopped mid-air. His fingertips were covered in damp sweat and dust, and he suddenly felt that he was a mess and unworthy to touch this tranquility.

The momentary hesitation only intensified the loneliness in his chest.

It wasn't until he saw the faint rise and fall of Chen Zhiwei's chest that he felt as if he were being pulled back to reality, and he slowly lowered his hand.

He tucked her in very gently, his movements so slow it was as if he were afraid of disturbing a fragile dream.

A drop of sweat, mixed with exhaustion and lingering fear, slid down his tense forehead, just past the corner of his eye, like a silent sigh, and rolled down.

Just then, a very soft murmur, as if from the other side of a dream, came from beside me:

"...Senior brother?"

A soft, yet incredibly clear murmur, like the first ripple of spring water breaking through the ice, entered his ears.

Xu Yan's back stiffened abruptly, as if struck by a silent thunderbolt.

He suddenly turned his head.

Chen Zhiwei's eyelashes trembled, like a dying butterfly trying to flap its wings one last time.

She opened her eyes with difficulty, still hazy from the long night's journey, but the moment she focused on his face, a burning clarity suddenly ignited within her.

"So, you... have been guarding this place all along." Her voice was weak, yet carried a weighty certainty.

She tried to raise her hand, but could only move her fingertips slightly.

Xu Yan practically lunged forward, grabbing that icy hand tightly with such force that it felt as if they were melting their bones together.

All his forced composure shattered under her gaze, and the voice that rolled out of his throat was hoarse and incoherent:

"Zhiwei, listen to me. From now on, I will not allow you to stand in front of me anymore. Your life is more important than anything else."

Chen Zhiwei gazed at him quietly, not missing the deep weariness etched between his brows, the traces of cold sweat still clinging to his eyes, or the uncontrollable trembling of the hand that held hers.

The last trace of confusion in her eyes faded, replaced entirely by a profound and intense heartache.

"Fool...your life is...my life, we've been inseparable for a long time..."

"You..." She paused, then gripped his hand tightly with all her might, "...have you been holding on alone for a long time again?"

Xu Yan did not answer.

He couldn't answer.

He simply lowered his head further, gently pressing his forehead against their clasped hands, using this gesture to isolate himself from everything outside and to conceal his potentially out-of-control expression.

All the pressure, loneliness, and sacrifices seemed to find a temporary harbor in the face of this gentle question.

“Before, I lived for myself; now, I live for us. If the price is losing all my instincts, then I will use every last bit of my consciousness to protect you.”

Chen Zhiwei neither urged him nor withdrew his hand.

She simply let him lean on her, and then, with all her remaining strength, she gently, very gently placed her other, weak hand on the back of his taut hand.

A silent hug.

The corners of her lips curved into a pale yet incredibly firm arc, extremely slowly.

“I’m here…” she said, each word like a tiny spark trying to dispel the chill around him. “Don’t be alone anymore.”

(End of this chapter)